


Slumbering Steep

by TooManyBooksToRead



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-28 05:17:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18749776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooManyBooksToRead/pseuds/TooManyBooksToRead
Summary: Exploring the Temple of Time in Wild's Hyrule the group stumbles upon a relic of the past.





	Slumbering Steep

**Author's Note:**

> Born from the prompts channel of the LU discord original idea by alexichou90.

They’d been travelling for a few hours when they emerged from the forest they’d been traversing. The light of the afternoon sun painting the sky a myriad of colours.

Sky saw Wild perk up on the edge of the group his ears twitching as he reached down for the slate hooked to his belt.

“We’re in the Great Plateau,” he said with a smile as he looked up from the device, “we can make camp a further ahead and find our way down tomorrow.”

“Well then, lead the way cub.”

Soon they came upon a set of ruins, remains of once strong structures made of rock and wood now covered in ivy and flowers. They go through the motions of setting up camp, Legend and Warriors unpacking and counting their supplies while Twilight and Four go back toward the forest for firewood.

Sky looks at the setting sun as he sets up his bedroll, something about this feels lighter, and later as he shares a delicious meal courtesy of Wild with the rest of his family by the campfire, he can say with certainty he feels content.

“Further ahead are the Ruins of the Temple of Time,” comes Wild’s voice breaking through his thoughts, “I didn’t really explore it since I wanted to get off the plateau as fast as possible so if any of you think it may have anything of use we can head there early tomorrow.”

He sees Time stiffen at the mention of the temple, how his eyes cloud over as if he’s remembering a particularly nasty moment of his life. He wonders what trials the Temple held for him to be so affected by them.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we got moving towards Kakariko right away?” asked Warriors, “You said the Shiekah may have some idea of what we’re up against here, or something to help us navigate through our Hyrules more easily.”

“Yeah,” came Legend’s reply from the other edge of the camp, “wouldn’t it be better if we got off the plateau faster?”

“That’s the other thing, going to the Temple would give us something to do while I try to figure out a way to get us off the plateau.”

“You mean you don’t know how to get down?” said Wind.

“ _I_ know how to get down but I don’t think all of us can use the paraglider at once, I’ll need some time to figure out where the least dangerous climb down would be.”

At the mention of climbing dejected groans could be heard all around the campfire.

“Well, then I guess we’ll go to the Temple tomorrow.” Said time his voice breaking through the collective disagreement. “We’ll still leave early tomorrow morning, Warriors you’re on first watch.”

~~~

Sky wakes up to the warm morning sun in his eyes and the smell of breakfast cooking nearby. After eating they swiftly pack up camp and Wild takes the lead guiding them towards the Temple of Time, or what remains of it anyway. The ruins oddly remind him of the Temple of Time from the surface on his Hyrule, while the dessert is nowhere to be seen and plant life conquered the remains of the structure just like the others in Wild’s Hyrule the lack of a complete ceiling seemed at odds with all other versions he’d seen of it.

They split off into groups as they entered the building Time leaning by the door with Wild sitting cross-legged on the ground next to him. He moves with Hyrule towards the stairs to sit on the upper level while he carved. It was a few minutes later that he heard Legend shout from somewhere below him.

“Hey Wild! Does the Temple have any type of basement?”

The scarred hero looks up from his work curiously. “None that I’ve ever heard of.” He replies standing up and hooking the slate to his belt.

As they all make their way to Legend they notice he seems to be fiddling with one of the tiles, meticulously running his fingers over it as he searches for imperfections on the stone.

“There!” he says pressing his fingers into one of the chipped corners with a smile.

A low rumbling sound that reminds Sky of the doors to the Silent Realms dragging across the floors while they open comes from somewhere beneath their feet as they see the stone sink into the floor to reveal a long narrow spiral staircase.

“That was unexpected,” says Hyrule already stepping closer to the entrance.

“So are we going in or what?” asked Wind already lighting a torch.

All of them turned to Time looking at him expectantly.

“Since it’s a staircase there’s a chance we may come out further down the plateau, maybe even at the base.” Said the blacksmith.

“C’mon Old Man you know you're dying to know what’s down there too!” argued the soldier.

Time sighed.

“Alright, let's do just a little exploring.”

Cheers broke out from the group of heroes as they started to walk into the tunnel.

The stairway was narrow, there was barely enough room for two people to walk side by side and there were no other hallways or door attached to it at any point. As they kept descending it looked like the pillar the stair looped around became smaller, slowly drawing smaller circles.

As they walked further into the hallway the walls started glowing the faint blue they’d learned to associate with the Shiekah technology of Wild’s Hyrule, inscriptions in the language littered the walls but with no one to properly translate them they kept moving forward without giving them much thought, that was when the engravings started to appear, chiseled into the stone walls was a mural.

Etched into the stone in painstaking detail were the divine beasts and hundreds of guardians all of them converging towards the centre of the piece where a haunting depiction of Calamity Ganon stood surrounded by the automatons, the princess and her knight facing it.

“Woah,” he said lightly pressing his fingers to one of the many guardians, “they look just like the real things.”

“Probably because they had live models to base them on,” said Wild his tone conveying the awe at the gigantic piece of art. “This is the battle from more than 10,000 years ago.”

“How are you so sure?” he asked the other.

“It’s the exact same layout as the tapestry back in Kakariko, and that is the last full legend of Hyrule.”

But that was not where it stopped, while the stairs seemed to go on forever unchanging the walls of the tunnel were like a living work of art, more depictions of different moments were carved into them, a living breathing historical record of the adventures of the Hero of that era.

Soon they find that the languages of the inscriptions change every so often but accompanying them are always different sets of carvings, in different styles and qualities yet following the same subjects, they all depict the adventures of the heroes of Hyrule. Most of them are able to pinpoint one or two of their adventures or the legends they’ve heard, at some point. A map tracing the history of the heroes of Hyrule.

Sky finds himself mesmerized by this painstakingly beautiful work of art, showing the flow of one era into another, the progress of a legacy handed down through the ages.

Amidst the hundreds of different Shiekah dialects and alphabets, they sometimes spot a phrase or two of familiar or recognizable Hylian languages. All of the heroes struck silent by the marvel unfolding before their very eyes.

“That's New Hyrule!” exclaimed Wind, “and the spirit tracks.”

The carvings went on, showing great battles and vicious foes, heroes and princesses and journeys all played out in detail, down to the minuscule. The different styles and writings seamlessly meshing together, he felt more than saw as some of the other heroes shied away from certain pieces, memories they didn't wish to see called forth by the record.

“Is that _Cia's mansion_? But that shouldn't even _exist_ on this time!” said Warriors tracing the pillars of the place absentmindedly.

And so they continued their trip backwards through time, looking at this great tapestry of the history of Hyrule spread out for them.

“Why would the Shiekah build this?” wondered Four as they crossed a giant castle with the triforce shining atop it and it's mirror image crumbling below it.

“They didn't,” replied Wild suddenly, “or at least I don't think my Shiekah did all of _this_.” He finished gesturing at the tunnel that kept going on in front of them.

“In my time the Shiekah acted as the retainers of the Royal Family, and by proxy, the guardians of the olden legends,” said Time as he closely inspected one of the smaller carvings a curiously shaped island on the edge of the much bigger pieces around him. “They are a tribe that keeps many secrets, and that will take those same secrets to their graves if necessary.”

“So you think this is a tomb?” asked Legend stepping away from the wall.

“I'm just saying the servants of the Goddess are likely to bury their dead on her longest standing temple.”

“The Shiekah have been servants of her Grace for longer than any of us have lived but they have traditions to honour their dead.” said Sky, “They have always prided themselves on sticking to their ancestral customs.”

The scene on the wall had started to change again when he noticed their leader come to a dead stop. Resting a hand on his closed eye as the other reached out towards one of the cravings, a mask chiselled on the stone to look like it covered only part of a Hero's face as he held it, and while the man's features weren't clear the way he was affected made everyone stop on their tracks too.

Taking a shuddering breath the Hero of Time slowly moved away from the wall, subtly leaning towards his protégé as they resumed the much forward.

It wasn't long before they reached the largest most intricate carving yet. Ganon in all his oppressive might looming over Hyrule castle with the Princess and the Hero on either side, except it didn't seem to tell a single story, from above the two were poised to attack their foe while from below the corpse of the Hero lay limp at the beast’s feet as the princess’ enraged visage concentrated her attack on it.

There was a moment of silence.

If what they had managed to piece together about the succession of events was right…

The mood dampened and they went on somberly forging through the darkness ahead for what felt like hours until finally, they saw something change.

“The ground is evening out,” called Warriors who had at some point hoisted Wind on his shoulders. “The ceiling also seems to be lower so watch your step.”

Before them the path opened into a wide corridor, the walls still as diligently carved as the ones on the stairway.

On both sides of the corridor a giant scene unfolded, hundreds if not thousands of people mounting giant birds flying through the tapestry of the sky, taking off and landing in odd floating islands, encrusted on the wall were a large variety of crystals reflecting the light of their torches and twinkling like stars. As they moved further the riders and their winged beasts started to dwindle as the makeshift stars overwhelmed the walls and ceiling.

At last, they came to a stop in front of a large stone door. It just like the rest of the structure carved, this time with intricate designs of feathers and flowers. In the centre, of the door, an inscription written in Hylian clashing with the design of the door as though it was added into the design much later.

Sky felt uneasy looking at it, his stomach turned and his knees felt weak. There was definitely something behind this door, the others, however, didn't seem to share his reservations.

“That's written in Hylian, why would a Shiekah monument have a Hylian inscription? Especially here,” commented Hyrule.

“Can anyone read it?” asked Wild examining the details on the feathers that worked as the door’s handles.

Most of them looked at it in confusion before moving on to admiring other parts of the door.

“I can read it.”

Time's statement startled most of them and they quickly gathered around him to hear what he had to say.

Sky felt queasy like the walls were closing in around him, there was something ominous about those words, written on top of the artwork in a language that wouldn't have existed for thousands of years after the era depicted had come and gone.

Time started to read aloud.

**_“Here lies Link, the Chosen Hero, Sole Master of the Blade of Evil’s Bane, Father of the Kokiri, First bearer of the Triforce. Here lies the man who doomed Hyrule to Eternity”_ **

Everyone fell silent.

Sky tensed. The pieces started to fall in place now, they shouldn't have come here.

He held his breath. He felt more than saw the gazes of the others turn to Time, and when he was unable to offer any answers toward him.

Then someone asked the dreaded question. Time's steady voice carrying through the silent hallway and echoing.

“Do you know anything about this Sky?”

His voice was soft and his movements slow like he was talking to a wounded animal.

Sky was scared, so scared. He didn't want them to know.

He had wanted to spare them the knowledge. Had wanted to spare _himself_ their reactions.

But of course, how could he spare them from any pain when he had doomed them all to his burden.

But he couldn't escape any longer, they knew now. Maybe they were always meant to, they deserved to know after all.

“During my quest, I did not fight Ganon. I never fought Ganon because he did not exist. Instead, the Goddess faced me with a series of trials to forge the Master Sword and train so that I would be ready to face the enemy she had sealed long ago. My task was to completely eliminate that evil from our world,” Sky’s voice cracked—his hands were shaking and he could feel a headache coming. “I failed. And from my failure, the scourge of Hyrule was born.”

“What are you talking about Sky?” asked Twilight gently.

“Because I failed a curse was placed upon the bloodline of the Goddess and the spirit of the Hero.” By now Sky was on the verge of crying, despair evident in his voice. "A fate worse than death to be carried out for all eternity."

At that moment Sky finally noticed Wild had gotten closer to him. His hands hovering between them. As he looked at them Sky wondered if he should brace for a punch before he was startled by the smaller hero hugging him.

“Don’t say that Sky.” He gripped him tighter. “Please don’t say that. We’ve all made our choices and we have to live with them, you can’t change the past Sky. So please, let it go, forgive yourself.”

And Sky cried, he cried and he screamed and he wept and there in Wild’s arms, he let himself forget that he had faltered at the last moment. And after, with his throat raw and no more tears left to shed, he lifted his head and felt as light as he would when he flew with his Loftwing over the expanse of Skyloft.

He felt safe and warm and at home.

“Maybe we should take a break here,” said Time still eyeing the inscription on the door, “we’ll eat and rest and after we’ve cleared our minds then decide if we’re taking our chances with the door or going back up the stairs.”

And so the Hero of the Sky drifted off to his family settling back into their familiar rhythm as they sent worried glances his way.

~~~

“Wake up sleepy head.” He felt a hand slowly running through his hair. “You need to eat before we move.”

As he slowly blinked the sleep from his eyes he noticed everyone else already up and about.

“Are you feeling better airhead,” came Legend’s concerned voice from his place leaning by the door.

“Much,” he replied with a smile while sitting up.

“What was all that Sky?” he felt Hyrule’s hand on his shoulder. “You had us worried sick!”

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

The brunette frowned but still didn’t push any further.

Not willing to test his luck he changed the topic before Hyrule could steer the conversation in a different direction “So, have we decided on our next move?”

“We were waiting for you to wake up,” said Wild handing him a plate, “Time wants to know if you know anything else about the door.”

“I don’t know anything for sure but I think maybe the grave idea wasn’t that far off the mark,” said Sky.

“Should we head back through the stairs then?” asked Wind.

“I don’t think that’s gonna work,” said Wild wincing, “There’s a Blood moon up there meaning the bokoblins that made their camp on the temple grounds will be back.”

“That tunnel is a pretty effective bottleneck and I’d rather we don’t take any chances,” said Time looking like he didn't like his options either way, “we’re opening the door.”

And so the heroes put their strength together to pull open the massive stone door.

Beyond the door lied a large circular stone chamber with the ceiling painted to look like the afternoon sky, carvings ran along the walls and floor of the room made of swirling lines and simple shapes to depicting the majestic Loftwings flying rider-less around the visage of Skyloft and the other islands around it. The crest of the Kingdom of Hyrule hung proudly on the wall opposite to the door.

The runes along the floor all swirled toward the centre where a large stone coffin lies on a raised dais. Behind it stood three majestic statues of the Golden Goddesses, Farore at the head watching over it and her sisters Din and Nayru to the sides shielding it from harm.

The group looked on with a mix of awe and dread as they walked further into the chamber and closer to the grave at its centre. As he gets closer Sky notes that the sarcophagus is chiselled to look like a bed of wildflowers was growing upon it much like the way the plants break free through the ruins of the Temple above them.

“What are those?” Four’s voice comes from below him where he is crouched looking at a set of wooden carvings that he now notices are emitting faint hum of magic energy, closing his eyes for a second he feels Fi attuning to it, much like a bird matching its tone to another’s.

A small smile spreads across his face before he crouches down to look at them closer only for them to take his breath away.

“…Zelda,” he whispers as he looks at the first figurine, made to look like his Zelda.

But what surprises him isn’t that it’s her, all the way down the stairs there were depictions of other Zeldas that, if the others are to be believed, were unnervingly accurate, it is the craftsmanship that grabs her attention, the way her face is detailed to highlight the gleam in her eyes, the quirk of her lips in that kind smile he held so close to his heart, he slowly, carefully lifted it up to check the base, where he found what he was already so sure of, that was his work.

He can feel everyone else’s eyes on him as they wait for everything to play out, the few who hadn’t connected the dots finally putting it together as Sky creeps closer to his own grave.

He frantically turns to look at the other two figures, and oh, _oh_ , he knows what these are, there’s his Loftwing, lovingly carved through the nights when he can’t sleep all detailed feathers and proud stance and next to him is Fi, just how he remembers her precise, elegant, refined and graceful all points and angles with her cloak billowing behind her. He looks lovingly at his handiwork, painstakingly fashioned into the likeness of his dear friends, covered in magic to protect it from wear and stands up to take a closer look at the coffin he’ll one day lie on.

It takes him a moment to see it, hidden as it is within the tapestry of coloured flowers but he finds a small inscription near the base where the statues stand.

_ “Here lies Link, the Chosen Hero, friend to many, may his spirit rest and meet his eternal companions in peace once again.” _

He cries, but unlike the ugly despaired sobbing of earlier that day, this is a silent thing because this place screams of memories and as he looks upon the words again he knew he chose this as his final resting place and he knows exactly why.

And then he laughed, his tears still falling while his heart sang in joy at his recent discovery he could feel the same spark of joy from her, his dear friend who didn’t have to be alone as long as he had a say in it. Maybe this had been as comforting to her though thee centuries as her presence was for him through his long journey in search of Zelda.

Unsheathing the Master Sword he gently puts moves it so the tip touches the ground and lays his forehead against it, “You did insist that you would be my companion forever,” he murmurs.

With renewed energy he turns to the others and leads them to the other end of the room beneath the royal crest, gently touching the tip of the Master Sword to the door, that slowly opens letting the light of the sunrise flood in from the outside signalling the dawn of a new day.

As they step out onto the dewy grass outside the tomb, embracing the feeling of the running wind and the warmth of the sun he finds himself thinking that it is time to turn over a new page, a new beginning for the story of this new journey with his family.

“Well at least now we don’t have to climb all the way down!” exclaimed Warriors picking up Wind and spinning him around in celebration.

The laughing faces of the rest of his companions his only response as they left the Great Plateau behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> So I'll take any and all suggestions or criticism any of y'all have this is the first thing I've actually published. Yay LU has the honor of being the first fandom to escape my wip folder limbo. This is almost certainly riddled with errors and the pacing feels wonky but if i don't post it now i never will so...  
> Um thanks for getting through my 3k brainchild.


End file.
